A Carillion subsidiary has been fined £70,000 in Maidstone crown court for negligence that led to the death of an employee in 2003.

Alexander McCully, who worked for Carillion JM (then known as Mowlem), died when he fell 17m from an incomplete scaffold platform on a site on the Isle of Grain in Kent. McCully had been wearing a harness but there was no anchor point for him to attach it to.

Carillion JM pleaded guilty to the charge of negligence. On top of the fine, it was ordered to pay £24,000 costs.

John Underwood, an HSE inspector, said: “I hope this will serve as a lesson to scaffold builders … to make sure others avoid a similar fate.”